Legend's Rebirth
by K. A. Raith
Summary: #1 of Cycle of Sacrifice 'verse - The dementors broke something in him that night, and he starts to remember. [Reincarnation fic. Warnings inside. In progress.]


_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Naruto; __Kishimoto Masashi__ does. I also don't own Harry Potter; it belongs to J. K. Rowling. I do, however, own the plot behind this story__. __I__nspired by **Window **by **Lady Salazar**, idea adapted with permission._

_**Setting:**__ Harry Potter AU after the end of third year.  
_

_**Warning:**__ Blanket spoilers for both franchises (but fuck the shinobi war and everything afterward), __English isn't author's first language, un-__beta'ed__. Don't read further if you're uncomfortable with the aforementioned stuffs._

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**Legend's Rebirth  
**

**Prologue - Seed of Awakening  
**

The end was coming.

He could feel it in his bones, could taste it in the air – darkness creeping up steadily to swallow him whole, coldness sinking its claws into his flesh; Sirius whimpered somewhere beside him, and his heart sank because his godfather didn't deserve any of this – and he had tried so hard to help, but _one hundred of them was too many_–

Cold, slimy fingers grasped his neck, tilting his head upward, and Death was an ugly thing with glistening, scabbed skin and no eyes and breath smelt of decay – only it wasn't _Death_, not really – _worse fate_, Professor Lupin had said, because he wouldn't be able to see his parents if he were to meet his end this way and he felt that he should _do _something, _fight it_, save himself and Sirius – but then the creature sucked a deep, rattling breath and all his strength ebbed away from his body...

_I'm going to–_

His mother was screaming in his mind; teary green eyes, desperate litany of _not Harry, please not Harry _– blond hair flecked with dirt and blood, split lips mouthing _hide, sweetheart, hide_... fiery locks, _plum red strands –_ blazing sky and spilled blood and vile, _vile_ green light... a baby sleeping on the ground, his little bundle of joy – but he was a toddler, standing inside a crib – a searing pain on his forehead – _chest _– green curse – _large claw_... chilling presence from the creature before – _behind _– him; aching, freezing tug on his _soul_...

_No, _he thought desperately, _I can't leave– not again..._

His world suddenly tilted, and a second later his back collided with the damp ground. He groaned when he felt a wave of dizziness from his abrupt fall, dimly noting that something must have scared the dementor enough to make it drop him. A _huge_ something made of silvery light loomed over the lake, bathing it with brilliant glow and driving out the dementors by its mere presence alone...

Harry mustered his strength and squinted at the massive figure through his blurry eyesight, amazed that he could see a solid shape within the light instead of formless mist... _a fully-formed __Patronus__... but _whose_–?_

The dementors screeched and flitted around, unable to get closer to their victims... a few moments passed before they finally gave up, darting away from the huge source of warmth and safety. Harry found that he could breathe a bit easier without the Cold bearing down on him. The Patronus disappeared, and just before the light vanished completely, he thought he saw a very familiar figure...

The last of his strength left him, and he fell into a blissful nothingness–

* * *

_A myriad of sensations and emotions flickered by. Happiness, with a touch of relief. Love, so much that he felt he was going to burst. Grief and determination. Anger, warring with fear – not for himself but for his precious people. Guilt, tempered by pride and conviction. __Shades of red – blood, fire, swishing tails, silky tresses. Heavy and vile presence, radiating hatred and malice. Pain; searing, blinding pain. Grim acceptance – finality of an ending. The Cold._

_"__He's here–?"_

_"... three of us... living together..."_

_"–a father..."_

_"...__ if I had any regrets..."_

_"We are family."_

_"... got to see you..."_

_"I'll be back soon."_

_"... happy... that you loved me..."_

_"Have a little faith–!"_

_"–thank you..."_

_"Listen... to your motor-mouth mother."_

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_**Author's Note:**  
_

_This one's been sitting in my drive for eleven months, gathering dust because I didn't know what to do with it. Then I said, "To hell with it," and published it anyway.  
_

_Now I'm going to leave you all hanging while I'm working on my Bleach fics, because I'm evil like that.  
_

_So, thoughts?  
_

_**~Keylan Raith**  
_


End file.
